Office Of Children's Services

About the Alaska ECCS Program


The Office of Children’s Services in the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is working on an exciting Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Project (ECCS) designed to build and implement systems that support families and communities in their development of healthy children who are ready to learn when they enter school.  This five-year initiative is funded through a federal Health Resources and Services Administration grant   The first two and one-half years of the project were focused on developing the statewide Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Plan.  The next two and one-half years will be focused on implementation.

The Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems project brought together public and private partners from around the State of Alaska in a collaborative effort to review existing systems for children prenatal through age 8 and plan for their improvement.  Over 100 stakeholders participated in workgroups that reviewed service delivery systems, current initiatives, funding streams, policies, best practices and information on the health/education status of young Alaskan children. 

Recommendations were drafted by the workgroups on how systems serving this age group could be improved.  The ECCS Plan was approved and adopted by the Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner and the Children’s Policy Team, which is comprised of Division Directors and Deputy Commissioners and endorsed by the Commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development. 

In addition to incorporating outcomes regarding the infrastructure needed to support a comprehensive system for young children, the ECCS Plan focuses on four primary areas:

Medical Home-Access to an insurance support for medical homes; provision of comprehensive physical and child development services for all children (including children with special health care needs); and assessment, intervention, and referral of children with developmental, behavioral, and psycho-social problems.

Social, Emotional, and Mental Health-Availability of appropriate child development and mental health services to address the needs of children at risk for developing mental health problems.

Early Care and Learning- Development and support of quality early care and learning services for children from birth through 8 that support children’s early learning, health, and development of social competence.

Family Support/Parent Education- Availability of comprehensive family support and parent education services that impact the ability of families to nurture and support the healthy development of their children.

The Alaska ECCS  Plan will provide direction in Alaska for the development of public policy for young children  It can be used as a tool to move the agenda for young children forward in Alaska.  The investments that we make for young children today will pay big dividends in the future.

 

For further information contact:
Shirley Pittz, M.S.
Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Coordinator
Office of Children's Services
323 E. 4th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 269-8923 Telephone (907) 269-3988 Fax